Wildcats sprint past Dinos 63-0

Richfield running back Brodie Ellis (22, right) uses a stiff arm to elude Carbon High's Zac Hathaway (left) during a play in the first half on Wednesday evening.

By KEVIN SCANNELL

It was one sequence of plays the Carbon High football team would love to have another shot at.

Not the three turnovers on offense that were returned by the Richfield defense for touchdowns.

Not the fact that Richfield took a 43-0 lead into halftime.

Not the fact that the Dinos suffered their ninth loss in a row this season, falling 63-0.

The do-over Carbon would like to have came late in the first quarter. Down 21-0, Carbon quarterback Dominic Rondinelli dropped back to pass and threw a high arcing ball down field. Carbon wide receiver Zac Hathaway got behind his Richfield defender and came down with the ball before going out of bounds inside the Richfield 5-yard line.

With a fresh set of downs and only five yards away from the end zone, Carbon had high hopes of breaking a scoreless streak dating back to an Aug. 30 loss to American Leadership Academy. However, as with many games this season, the plays did not go Carbon's way. After three unsuccessful attempts to get the ball in the end zone, Carbon lined up for a field goal try by Ryan Cano. Cano's kick came up just short as the Dinos turned the ball back over to Richfield, coming up scoreless on their most successful drive of the game.

Richfield took the opening kick and one play later scored on a 64-yard run to take an early lead just 23 seconds into the game which they continued to build upon.

Other than Carbon's drive inside the Richfield 5-yard line, the visitors kept the Carbon offense from gathering any momentum on any drives through the rest of the game.

With just one game left on the 2013 schedule, the Dinos will head to Castle Dale for their rivalry game with Emery High on Friday night at 7 p.m.

While any playoff hopes for the Dinos (0-9) are long gone, they have a chance to play the role of spoiler as Emery is battling to secure a playoff spot. With a win over Carbon, Emery would secure a spot in the 3A playoffs. But a loss, combined with a Union win over Grantsville, could leave the Spartans out of a spot in the playoffs.